Condenser



Patented Sept. 23, 1941 CONDENSER Charles B. Tuley, Glenolden, Pa.,assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Com-. pany, EastPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 6,1937, Serial No. 167,510.

3 Claims.

My invention relates. to a surface condenser, more particularly to ascoop condenser for a ship, and it has for an object to provide animproved arrangement for circulating cooling water therethrough.

A more particular object is to provide an improved arrangement foreffecting forced circulation of cooling water through the condenserwhile maneuvering or moving astern.

It has long been known to provide condensers in ships with scoops forutilizing the velocity of approach of the sea water to effect flowthrough the condenser while the ship is moving ahead at sufficientspeed. At other times, however, as when maneuvering or going astern, thescoop is not effective and it is necessary to provide a pump.

for effecting flow of water at such time. In some cases, the pump hasbeen placed in the path of the flow effected by the scoop. Thisarrangement has the disadvantage that the pump imposes resistance toflow.

It is an object of my invention to provide an arrangement of thecharacter set forth in which the pump for effecting forced circulationis not disposed in the path of water flow effected by the. scoop so thatit offers no resistance to such flow.

Still another object is to provide an arrangement of the character setforth in which the Scoop provides flow of cooling water through thecondenser in a single pass and in which the pump effects flow in twopasses. I

In accordance with my invention, I provide a scoop and an overboarddischarge for effecting flow of water through the condenser by utilizingthe velocity of approach of the sea water, while the ship is movingahead at sufficient speed. I further provide a sea chest, of a designsuitable for use while the ship is maneuvering or moving astern, and apump for effecting forced circulation of water through the sea chestandthe condenser. The pump is arranged outside the path of water floweffected by the scoop, so that it does not oifer any resistance to suchflow. The Pump may, therefore, be designed for eflicient operationinstead of being designed for low re-' sistance to flow. Also, becausethe pump takes its water from a separate sea chest'instead of throughthe scoop which is designed for ahead operation, the loss in headthrough the scoop is avoided during astern operation. Such loss of headis considerable and imposes suction lift on the pump. In an optionalarrangement, the scoop effects flow of water in a single pass throughthe condenser, while'the pump effects two-pass flow.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparentfrom the following description and claims taken in connection withaccompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view partly in section of a scoop condenser accordingto one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of a second embodiment; and,

Fig. 4 is a partial horizontal section showing a modification of thevalve arrangement of Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 in detail, I show a surface condenser l0disposed in a ship whose hull is shown at l l. The condenser proper isof usual construction, having condenser tubes l2 and inlet and outletwater boxes 13 and I4 communicating with the opposite ends of the tubes.The inlet water box l3 communicates with the water outside the hull llthrough a scoop IS, a gate valve I6 and a conduit IT. The scoop I5 is ofsuch form as to provide velocity-pressure conversion of the waterflowing therethrough, the scoop utilizing the velocity of approach ofthe sea water relative to the ship for effecting such velocity-pressureconversion and consequent flow. The outlet water box l4 communicateswith the sea water outside the hull through a conduit l8, a gate valvel9 and an overboard discharge 20. The latter may be provided with lips2| and .22 on the forward and astern sides thereof. The construction sofar described is known in the art.

In accordance with my invention, I further provide a sea chest 23 havinga strainer plate 24.

The sea chest 23 is connected to the inlet water box I3 by a gate valve25 and a conduit 26. It is of a form and construction to providesuitable entrance flow of sea water at any speed and direction ofmovement of the ship. The conduit 26 contains a propeller pump 21including stationary vanes 28 and moving vanes 29 mounted on a shaft 30.Any other suitable type of pump may be used. The pump is driven by aturbine 3| connected to the shaft 30, or in any other suit- Figs. 1 and2-operatz'on In normal operation, while the ship is moving ahead atsuflicient speed, to the right as indicated by the arrow, the flappervalve 32 is posiastern, the flapper valve 32 is moved to close theconduit IT, as shown by full lines in Fig. 1. Op-

eration of the pump 21 is efiected by energizing the turbine 3|. Thepump 21 theneflfects forced circulation of sea water inwardly throughthestrainer plates 24 and through the sea chest 23 and the conduit 26 tothe inlet water box.. The water then flows through the tubes and'is discharged through the overboard discharge, 2 as when the scoop I isefiecting flow.

Inasmuch. as thepump 21: is not disposed in thejpath 'of the flow ofseawater efiected by the scoop l5,-it oifers noresistance to'such flow.It may, therefore, be designed for maximum projected area required formaximum'e'fficiency for the amount of water and the head required.Furthermore, suitable flow. of water into the condenser is provided byreason of the sea chest 23 which is designedso asto be suitable for suchflow.

' Figure 3 f In.Fig;*3 Ishowa secondfembodiment of my invention in whicha scoop isprovided to provide singlepass flowthroughthe condenser, as inthe first embodiment, but in .which the circulating pump. is arrangedto-provide two pass flow. The condenser 4|! comprises tubes 4|, andinlet and outletwater boxes 42 and 43 communicating withtheoppos'iteends. of the tubes. The inlet water box 42gcommunicates withthesea water through a conduit. 44. having: its inlet' end'portion 45formed to "provide ascoop; In other Words, it is of. divergent form, asin'Figs; 1 and 2, to effect velooityepressure conversion A valve 46 isprovided and is adapted to shut 01f communication; between the conduit44 and the inlet water box 42.:

.The' outlet water box43 is provided with an( intermediate verticalpartition 41. dividing the same intoltwo chambers 48 and 49, eachchamber communicating with one-half'of the tubes 4|. The-partition 4'!is formed=with an opening 5!) which'is' adaptedto be closed by a flappervalve 5|. The chamber'49 communicates with an overboard"discharge52. w

The chamber 48 communicates with the sea water outside the hull of theship through an inlet conduit 53 which includes" a seachest 54. The'sea'chest 54 is of a form and construction to provide suitable entranceflow of sea water at any speed and direction of movemen-t of the, ship.The inlet conduit 53. isprovided with a propeller pump 55 disposedtherein. A valve 56 isfalso'provided in the inlet conduit 53for'shutting ofi flowi'therethrough. Any suitable mesh, nismmaybeprovided for simultaneously. oper-; ating the valves 46, 5| and 56,such as the system or rotating'fshafts andcbevelled gears indicatedgenerallyjbythe referencenumeral 41 and ineluding a 'han'd wheeisa." a.a

' l fig. al-operation 1 When. the ship is .moving. ahead at suificientspeed-Ito the-rightfass'een in Fig. 3) flow of sea j f f e d 'rishfthe,bon in single pass to the left as shown by the full line arrows.The valves 46 and 5| are in open position, and the valve 56 is in closedposition, as shown in full lines on the drawings. The sea water entersthe scoop 45, which utilizes the velocity of approach of the sea waterto eflect velocitypressure conversion and consequent flow of sea waterthrough the condenser. The sea water enters the inlet water box, andpasses through the tubes 4| to the outlet box 43. The water entering thechamber 48 passes through the open- "ing 50 into the chamber 48, and thewater from both chambers is then discharged through the f .overboarddischarge 52. During such flow, the

propeller pump 55 is idle, and since it is not disposed in the path ofthe flow, it ofiers no resistance thereto.

' When the ship is not moving ahead at suificient speed, as whenmaneuvering ahead or going astern, the valves 46 and 5| are closed andthe valve 56 is open as shown by the dot and dash lines. 'The'propellerpump 55 is operated to effect flow of sea water inwardly through the seachest to the chamber 43. Since the opening 50 is closed, the seawaterflows in one pass through the tubes communicating with the chamber 48 tothe chamber 42 which now serves as a reversing chamber. The water thenenters the other half of the tube nest and flows in a second pass to thechamber 49, from which it is discharged through the overboard discharge52. In this case, twopass flow of water through the condenser is ef--per-valve 59, hinged at 60, serves the purpose of both of the valves 5|and 56 of Fig. 3. The connection of the conduit 53 with the chamber 48a,

and the opening 50a in the partition 47a are so arranged that theflapper valve may close either one and leave the other open. Theconstruction and operation of this modification is otherwise the same asthat of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3. Y

From the foregoing description; it will be ap parent that I haveprovided a marine surface condenser so arranged that the tubes extend ina fore-an'd-aft direction with respect to the ship, the tubes havingtheir ends communicating with water boxes. the exteriorjof thehullof'the ship by means of first, second, and third conduits, the firstconduit extending forwardly'andibeing inclined at an" acuteangle withrespect to the hull of the ship and the second and third conduitsextending:

the third conduit to the overboard discharge. A

pump associated with the second conduit provides for circulation ofwater through the latter, thetubes, and the thirdconduit to theoverboard d scharge when going astern. When going ahead above a minimumspeed, valve means provide for Thewate'r boxes are connected to cisolation of the second conduit and the pump from the scoop flow pathincluding the tubes so that the scoop is effective to producecirculation. On the other hand, for conditions where the scoop would beineffective, such as operation ahead below the minimum, maneuvering orastern, the valve means provide for isolation of the first conduit andthe scoop from the pump fiow path including the tubes. As shown in thedrawings, it is necessary in all cases to have the first conduitcommunicate with the forward or inlet Water box and the third conduitcommunicate with the aft or outlet water box and to have valve means toisolate the pump and the second conduit from the flow path of the scoopwhen the latter is effective and to isolate the first conduit and thescoop from the flow path of the pump when the latter is effective;however, the second conduit may communicate either with the inlet orwith the outlet water box. Where the second conduit is connected to theinlet water box, the portion of the flow path provided by the tubes isidentical both for the scoop and the pump so that it is merely necessaryto provide valve means effective to open the first conduit and close thesecond and vice versa. On the other hand, where the second conduit isconnected to the aft water box, as the overboard discharge or thirdconduit is also connected thereto, it is necessary that the valve meansshall also be capable of separating the two, when the pump is effectiveto define the tube portion of the fiow path.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various other changes and modifications without departin from thespirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitationsshall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as arespecifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a marine condenser having ahead and astern Waterboxes, a condenser scoop for conveying sea water to said ahead waterbox, valve means for controlling flow through said scoop, a partition insaid astern water box dividing the same into first and second chamberscommunicating with first and second groups of tubes, said partitionhaving an opening therein, an overboard discharge communicating withsaid first chamber, a sea chest communicating with said second chamber,a

pump for translating sea water through said sea chest, and valve meansfor controlling flow through said sea chest and through the opening insaid partition.

2. In condensing apparatus, the combination of a shell, a nest of tubestherein, a water box communicating with said tubes at one end, firstconduit means communicating with said Water box and including a scoop,first valve means for hutting off flow of Water through said firstconduit means, second conduit means communicating with one portion ofthe tubes at the second or opposite end, third conduit means havingfiuid translating means for effecting fiow of water therethrough, andsecond valve means for selectively connecting a second portion of thetubes at said second end to either said second conduit means or saidthird conduit means, whereby, when the first valve means is open and thesecond valve means connects said second tube portion to said secondconduit means, single pass fiow of water through the condenser isefiected by said scoop, and when said first valve means is closed andsaid second valve means connects said second tube portion to said thirdconduit means, two-pass flow of water through the condenser is effectedby said scoop.

3. In a surface condenser, a shell, first and second water boxesconnected to the ends of the shell; a partition dividing the second boxinto first and second chambers and having an opening providing forcommunication therebetween; a nest of tubes having the ends thereofcommunicating with the boxes and arranged so that a portion thereofcommunicates with said first chamber and the remainder with said secondchamber; first means including a first conduit for supplying Water tothe first box, second means including a second conduit for supplyingwater to the first chamber of the second box; means providing adischarge passage for the second chamber of the second box; first,second, and third valves for opening and closing the first and secondconduits and said partition opening, respectively; and means for openingand closing said valves such that, when the first means is effective tosupply water to the first box, the first and third valves will be openand the second closed, and, when said second means is effective, saidsecond valve will be open and the first and third valves will be closed.

CHARLES B. TU'LEY.

